Portraitist Virginia Thomas did not know that she would find her next subject when a couple of…

Junior communications science and disorders major Liz Kayda and Junior bioengineering major Briana Roberts examine the faces of Lupus in Kimbo Art Gallery

Jarrett Stewart, Senior Staff Photographer

Portraitist Virginia Thomas did not know that she would find her next subject when a couple of young men knocked on her door to make a furniture delivery.

The men entered her home with the intention of delivering a media cabinet. However, entranced by the murals and paintings scattered about, they stopped to ask if she would be willing to paint their pictures.

Thomas agreed, and by pure coincidence, she had found the final subject to add to her collection of portraits of individuals who, like her, suffer from lupus disease.

Thomas, a current Harrisburg, Pa., resident originally from Rochester, N.Y., uses her art to spread lupus awareness. Her traveling exhibit — which will be on display in the Conney M. Kimbo Art Gallery in the William Pitt Union from Monday, Sept. 3, through Thursday, Sept. 20 — includes a self-portrait as well as 19 portraits of other subjects, all of whom suffer from the disease.

The exhibit, sponsored by sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and fraternity Delta Tau Delta, depicts individuals from all walks of life living with lupus. The youngest subject is only 5 years old and the oldest is 72.

Lupus is a widespread chronic autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation in many parts of the body. The immune system of a person living with the disease produces antibodies that cause subsequent damage to organs and tissues.

“If left undiagnosed, you’re allowing the body to attack itself,” Thomas said.

Thomas said that it is particularly vital for college-aged students to become aware of the disease because it primarily affects people from the ages of 15 through 45. She also said that although men are at risk for lupus, the majority of patients are women.

Despite the fact that women of color are three to four times more likely to contract the disease, Thomas continued, lupus is still a concern for people of all ethnicities.

This diversity is well-represented in the portrait artist’s work. While her subjects have a variety of ethnic backgrounds, they also come from all around the Northeast, including Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

Thomas said that she met her subjects in many different ways.

“I met them through neighbors, my hairdresser, old friends and at health fairs. I even met one during a layover in Germany,” she said.

And the project was still acquiring subjects through February of this year.

“That was the most difficult part for me,” Thomas said. “From a physical standpoint, it was difficult to organize everything, including travel and finding sponsors. It was a lot of busy work.”

Such a physical toll on her body is what caused Thomas to retire from her work as a physical therapist.

“It became too much pain on my joints and ligaments,” she said.

Thomas said that she hopes her project will create an atmosphere for discussion and support within the lupus community.

“If people come in who have lupus, I want them to see that others are suffering too,” she said. “I hope it inspires them to be less afraid to talk about it.”

But the collection is not only for those who can already relate. Thomas said she hopes the exhibit will also be meaningful to those who don’t have the disease.

“I want them to put a face to lupus and to develop more empathy.”

Nicole Thomas, Virginia’s daughter and a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, said that her sorority has similar goals for the exhibit.

She explained that her sorority often develops the idea of supporting a particular cause because someone within the sorority has a personal involvement with that organization.

“Everyone in the house knows my mom,” Nicole Thomas said. “It’s cool to say that we’re associated with what she’s doing.”

The sorority, in cooperation with fraternity Delta Tau Delta, raised close to $700 to cover the expense of the exhibit.

Nicole said that Kappa Kappa Gamma teamed up with Delta Tau Delta in February of this year to host a lunchbox auction.

“The girls make or buy lunches, and the boys each bid on them,” she said.

Jeff Breakey, president of Delta Tau Delta, said that the lunchbox auction is an annual tradition.

“This year I bid on homemade lasagna for about $25,” he said.

Although Breakey has not yet visited the exhibit yet, he said he plans to gather a group of brothers to see the project they helped make possible.

Kappa Kappa Gamma also plans to take a field trip to the gallery.

“It means so much to me to have 73 girls stand behind me,” Nicole said.